Thursday, August 7, 2008

Photogenic Tim

Starting pitcher
JC Parsons

Armed with my new telephoto lens, some nice tickets and a raging case of man-love for Tim Lincecum, this intrepid correspondent ventured into the lovely confines of Mays Field. It had been over a year for me, but it felt like much longer...interesting. After a warm up game on Tuesday evening ( a lackluster Sanchez loss noteworthy due to a Lewis HR ) I was ready to be "enchanted."

I was not disappointed. Tim was Tim. Maybe not "superhero, double digit K" Tim, but it still felt like vintage stuff. Eight innings, 5 hits (the big one was a double that Winn failed to break back quickly enough as the wind caught it, I bet Randy thinks he should have got it), 2 runs, 4 walks and 8 strikeouts (for a league leading 175!). One hundred and 17 pitches to get 24 outs, which were almost perfectly distributed between strikeouts, ground outs, and fly outs. It is absolutely thrilling to watch this young talent establish himself so convincingly, so thoroughly. His remarkable consistency is quickly becoming his trademark attribute, his signature, if you will. My favorite part of Tim's "routine" is striking out the side in his last inning, which is almost always the seventh or eighth. If you read this blog, you know that I have been pointing this out for awhile. I, of course, proudly told most of my section (LB 121) what was about to happen and Tim produced as advertised. Damn, that was cool. Taxes, Death and Tim.

The other truly great part of this road trip was being able to get a photographic record of it. I hope to get many photos online soon of the high points (Berkeley, my visit to Zo and Akemi's quintessential San Francisco home, the ballpark, etc) but for now lets start with Tim (big surprise). It is a little embarrassing just how many pictures I took of the our boy wonder. (Come over sometime and I'll show you my "Tim's Stretching Routine" slide show, only takes a few minutes longer than it takes Tim to actually do it.) So, here are just a hand full of the best ones...INCLUDING IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE OF A BLOWN CALL:

First Row: The Park; the History; the Future

Second Row: Lewis doubles; Fred out at the plate, poor judgement by Flannery;

Third Row: This bad call cost us a run!; Bonehead loves Tim (only because he loves his job)

This is just a small sample of the Tim Love Fest. Hope you enjoyed viewing as much as I enjoyed doing. Look for much more in the next day or two.

Hey Chris, thanks for the input. I'm using a pretty standard setup: Canon Rebel XT with a 75-150mm zoom. Not very fancy or expensive. After some editing, the pictures end up looking nice. I was 32 rows back, to give you perspective. I will be sharing many more soon.

BTW your latest post is great. Man, you do good work. I'm sure I will be referencing it on RMC real soon. Thanks again for the quality reporting.

Supplemental data:Tim's 3 Ks in the eighth were the 3-4-5 hitters in the Braves lineup. Extra awesome.Tim's strikeout total is not just league-leading, it is MLB leading.Winn was awesome as a leadoff hitter, with 4 straight hits.Rowand cowboyed up for all of our RBIs.Wilson is on the verge of being a DOMINANT closer, not just one who happens to get lots of saves despite his proclivity for stressful innings.Watching a ball game with my brother, for the first time in a few years, was an immeasureable pleasure for me, even though he spent the whole time obscessing over his frikkin camera.When you factor in an amazing dinner with Dan & Akemi, yesterday was a 10, hands down.

I could NOT believe those "greatest throws" comments. What was Krukow thinking? That was a medium to short throw by a right handed thrower going toward home and his left after an easy shoulder high catch. I ask you is there a better scenario. It was a strong, accurate throw...an excellent play, but not even close to being as difficult (or as important)as the catch Fred made months ago. It was difficult to understand Krukow's hyperbole. Flannery made an even worse call a few days ago sending Holm to certain death, but they dropped the perfect relay. Flannery is a loser, pudre hack. He gets too excited to be maintain control out there.